The successful — and massive — law enforcement effort to obtain public video to help identify the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing shows the need for more government video surveillance cameras, says one congressman. Perhaps drones, too, says a senator.

There are already government closed-circuit TV systems in cities like Boston, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., a member of both the House Homeland Security and Intelligence committees, said the nation needs even more video cameras in public places.

"They're a great law enforcement method and device," the congressman told NBC News' Andrea Mitchell the day after the bombing. "It keeps us ahead of the terrorists who are constantly trying to kill us."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told the Washington Post Friday that the Boston bombings are "Exhibit A of why the homeland is the battlefield," and that it would have been "nice to have a drone up there" to help track the suspects, brothers Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

While lawmakers weigh the pros and cons of drones, government surveillance cameras in public areas — parks, streets, buses, subways and rail stations — have become common, but not as much as cameras put in place by department stores, banks, theaters and other private companies. In Boston, surveillance camera footage from the Lord & Taylor department store was used to help identify the bombing suspects, The Boston Globe reported.

How many cameras?
"The use of surveillance cameras is growing exponentially," Jim Bueermann, former Redlands, Calif. police chief who is now president of the nonprofit Police Foundation, told NBC News. "There's all kinds of rationales for them being used in the private sector, whether it's loss prevention or for the safety of people. In the non-governmental world, cameras are everywhere."

Government cameras, he said, are "less prevalent" because of their cost.

Figuring out just how many police security cameras are already installed in the U.S. is not easy. While NBC News has cited an industry study saying that roughly 30 million surveillance cameras have been sold in the last decade, these include privately monitored systems. 

The American Civil Liberties Union determined that Chicago has 10,000 cameras, and this is considered the largest urban network. New York's planned security network around the new World Trade Center in lower Manhattan included 3,000 cameras, while NBC News has reported that Boston has just 300 cameras total.

(We asked the Department of Homeland Security for a full breakdown of government-operated video cameras throughout the nation, but were directed to individual state and local authorities.)

Bueermann, who retired in 2011, said Redlands, with a population of about 69,000, placed 120 police cameras around the city "in areas where we knew we had crime control challenges."

A camera was rolling outside a downtown bar when a fight broke out in late November 2011, and spilled onto the sidewalk. A man pulled a gun and shot another man dead, with the footage captured on camera, Bueermann said.

The shooter could not be identified from the video, he said, so police put it "out on the Web, and within a couple days, they had the guy," thanks to what Bueermann calls "crowd-sleuthing."

Google

A Google Street View image of a surveillance camera mounted on a Lord & Tailor department store. The camera reportedly helped investigators spot suspects in the Boston bombing.

Privacy concerns
While privacy and civil liberties groups have expressed concern over government video surveillance, those issues were a bit muted following last Monday's bombings.

"Instances like the tragic events at the Boston Marathon are good examples of how this technology can be used effectively in limited, well-defined circumstances," Amie Stepanovich, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center's Domestic Surveillance Project, told NBC News.

Stepanovich says the nonprofit digital rights group is less concerned with proliferation, and more worried about how long public videos are retained and who has access to them "in order to prevent their use in inappropriate circumstances."

Concerns about inappropriate circumstances led the ACLU of Massachusetts and National Lawyers Guild of Massachusetts to file a lawsuit in 2011 against the Boston Police Department to obtain documents showing that surveillance done between 2007 and 2010, including video footage, was done of protestors — not of criminals or terrorists.

The Redlands, Calif., police department has made a point about being "transparent" about what its cameras capture, Bueermann said. The public could "walk into our dispatch center, where the video monitoring stations were, sit down and watch how these video stations were being used," as well as "arbitrarily pick a time, date, camera and watch it."

'Ring of Steel'
Britain is the Western nation with the most government video cameras: 2 million or about one for every 32 people. In London — where officials are upping security for Sunday's London Marathon in the wake of what happened in Boston — the city's famous "ring of steel" network of government surveillance cameras will be in full force.

After the London riots of 2011, Scotland Yard had more than 100,000 hours of closed-circuit TV (CCTV) footage to review.

"London is one of the most watched cities in the world with CCTV cameras everywhere from public transport to the major landmarks and small side streets," Nick Pickles, director of Big Brother Watch, a British civil liberties group, told NBC News. "Yet this did not prevent the riots of 2011, or the atrocities of 7/7," referring to the July 7, 2005 terrorist bombings on subway trains and a bus which killed 52 commuters.

While government surveillance cameras are a "tool that can be useful," he said, "ultimately the focus of law enforcement should be preventing crime. CCTV undermines everyone's privacy, while diverting resources from approaches that have a much higher impact on reducing crime and improving public safety, or is used by lazy officials as a way to placate the public who want something done to make their neighborhood safer."

Despite this, arguments for more surveillance cameras in U.S. cities are likely to multiply in the wake of Boston — and so are activists' calls for attention to the privacy concerns that come with them.

Related:

Secret weapon? How thermal imaging helped catch bomb suspect

Tech-savvy public plays unprecedented role in crowdsourced terrorist hunt

As Boston bombing photos and videos pour in, where do investigators begin?

Lawmakers voice concerns on drone privacy questions

Boston bombing aftermath: How you can help

A lone small-town police officer confronted the two Boston Marathon suspects on a dark street after they got out of their cars and started shooting at him, the Watertown, Mass., police chief said Saturday.

In the ensuing firefight, the suspects hurled a pressure-cooker bomb similar to the two that went off near the marathon finish line, said Chief Edward Deveau. They also tossed four homemade grenade-like devices, Deveau said, with two of them exploding.

The two men were in separate cars when they were confronted, he said — apparently one of their own and another that they had carjacked.

Deveau said police tracked one of the cars because the carjack victim’s phone was still inside. The lone officer, whom he identified as Joe Reynolds, was told not to engage the suspects, but the suspects fired on him from separate locations, Deveau said.

Under fire, the officer put his cruiser in reverse to back away while other officers arrived, he said. Six Watertown police officers were involved in the fight, plus a transit officer who was shot in the groin and bled heavily, he said.

The pressure-cooker bomb exploded, and the lid was found embedded in a nearby car, Deveau said. There were three explosions in the firefight, in addition to 200 rounds of gunfire, he said.

“I am extremely lucky that I’m not at a funeral this morning for one of my officers,” Deveau said in an interview on MSNBC. “They were heroic, very talented, and had the guts and glory to defend our town, our community, in a very tight situation.”

An ATF agent leans over Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev after he was taken into custody in Watertown, Mass., on April 19, 2013.

One of the suspects, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was killed in the firefight. The surviving suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, later hid in a boat behind a Watertown house and was cornered and captured alive by authorities.

On Saturday, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was under heavy guard and in serious condition at a Boston hospital — the same hospital where some victims of the marathon blasts are still recovering.

Federal investigators were waiting to question Tsarnaev, 19, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Chechen origin, hoping to uncover a motive for horrendous attacks that bookended a week of terror. Gov. Deval Patrick said that he was stable but “not able to communicate yet.”

“We have a million questions, and those questions need to be, need to be answered,” Patrick told reporters. “There’s a prosecution to put together.”

Federal law enforcement officials told NBC News that prosecutors did not expect to finish work on charges against Tsarnaev on Saturday. The charges were more likely to come Sunday, they said.

The FBI confirmed that in 2011, it probed Tamerlan Tsarnaev for possible extremist ties after a tip from a foreign country that he was a "follower of radical Islam" and planned to join an underground group. Agents grilled him and neighbors and did not find "any terrorism activity, domestic or foreign."

The brothers allegedly executed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology patrol officer before they drove to Watertown and the firefight began.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was being held at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where 11 victims were also being treated after two blasts tore through crowds at the finish line of Monday's race. 

He was wounded in the firefight with cops but escaped, sparking a daylong lockdown of Boston and surrounding towns. A door-to-door manhunt had just ended when a Watertown man noticed blood on the tarp covering a boat in his backyard, peeked under and found the suspect, a relative told TODAY.

After a standoff punctuated by bursts of gunfire, police grabbed the accused bomber, unleashing a celebration that had people cheering "USA! USA!" and dancing in the streets outside Fenway Park.

"CAPTURED!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won," the Boston Police Department tweeted minutes later.

In an address from the White House, President Barack Obama echoed the public's relief but also noted that many questions remained. Among them, he said: “Why did young men who grew up and studied here as part of our communities and our country resort to such violence?”

Authorities said they were still trying to determine whether the suspects had help. Even as the standoff took place in Watertown, the FBI was taking three people in for questioning in New Bedford, Mass., who were believed to be former roommates of Tsarnaev.

"No one was detained. No one was arrested," a spokesman with the Massachusetts FBI office later said, once the two men and one woman questioned in connection with Tsarnaev were released.

Tsarnaev will be questioned by a federal team called the High Value Detainee Interrogation Group, which includes officials of the FBI, CIA, and Defense Department, an Obama administration official said. Under a special legal exception designed to protect public safety, he will not get a Miranda warning or be offered a lawyer for up to 48 hours.

Meanwhile, finally freed of the weeklong grip of terror, Boston rejoiced.

The Red Sox on Saturday played their first home game since the marathon attack. During a pregame ceremony, an American flag was unfurled to cover the historic 37-foot left field wall at Fenway Park, the Green Monster.

Patrick joined Boston police on the infield during the national anthem, and fans roared the last few bars. Some held up their own flags in the stands. In the seats atop the wall, fans held up placards that spelled out, “THANK U BRAVE HEROS.” Red Sox players wore special patches on their jerseys.

The arrest came four days after three people were killed and 176 wounded at the marathon. The big break in the case came Thursday evening when the FBI released surveillance photos of the brothers from the race and said they were trying to identify them.

The suspects' desperate attempt to flee set off a bloody chain of events.

Tips were pouring into an FBI hotline when they fatally shot MIT officer Sean Collier, 26, in his vehicle at 10:20 p.m., law enforcement officials said. Police called it an "assassination."

The brothers then stole a Mercedes SUV, holding the driver captive for a half-hour while they tried to use his cash card to get money from three ATM's, a source said. At the first, they put in the wrong number; at the second, they took out $800 and at the third, they were told they had exceeded the withdrawal limit, the source said.

/

An FBI officer stands in front of the boat at 67 Franklin St. where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings, was hiding in Watertown, Mass., on April 19.

The carjacking victim was released unharmed at a gas station in Cambridge and the accused bombers sped in his car toward Watertown. A police chase ensued and they tossed explosive devices out the window, officials said.

“I saw them light this bomb. They threw it towards the officers,” said Andrew Kitzenberg of Watertown, who watched from his window. "There was smoke that covered our entire street.”

A transit officer, identified as Richard H. Donahue, 33, was seriously injured during the pursuit. Authorities said he underwent surgery at Mount Auburn Hospital.

Witnesses said Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who had an improvised explosive device strapped to his chest, ended up on the ground and Dzhokhar barreled the SUV down the street to get away.

Armored vehicles and SWAT teams streamed into Watertown and residents were told to stay indoors. Boston subways and buses were shut down, Amtrak service to Boston was cut, and college campuses were closed. The Red Sox and Boston Bruins' home games were canceled.

Police finally gave residents the OK to venture outside about 6 p.m., only to order them back an hour later when Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found.

Slideshow: Search for suspects in Boston Marathon bombings

/

Cheers filled the streets after a Boston Marathon bombing suspect was captured alive but wounded Friday night — following a daylong manhunt that shut down the city.

Launch slideshow

Related:

What's next: The interrogation of the Boston bombing suspect

Secret weapon: How thermal imaging helped catch bomb suspect

Parents of suspects say their children were framed

Family of dead suspect's wife: 'Our hearts are sickened'

On social media, Tsarnaev's mixed religious fervor, whimsy

Slain MIT officer's family mourns: 'Our only solace is Sean died bravely'

Obama: 'We've closed an important chapter in this tragedy'

A nation cheers arrest of Boston bombing suspect

Slideshow: Timeline of terror hunt and capture

Boxing photos of dead Boston suspect revealed

This story was originally published on Sat Apr 20, 2013 9:41 AM EDT

The Boston Marathon bombing suspect was captured alive but wounded Friday night — after holing up in a boat in a suburban backyard following a bloody rampage that left a cop dead and a daylong manhunt that shut down the city.

The arrest of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, and the earlier death of his brother during a firefight with cops, ended five days of terror sowed by the double bombing at the marathon finish line, which killed three people, wounded 176 and left the city of Boston on edge.

"We got him," Boston Mayor Tom Menino tweeted.

"CAPTURED!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won," the Boston Police Department said on its Twitter account.

Cops cheered as the suspect was taken into custody in Watertown, Mass., just before 9 p.m. Later, the people of Watertown flooded the streets, cheering every passing police car and armored vehicle in an impromptu parade. Chants of "USA! USA!" broke out. In Boston, people danced in the streets outside Fenway Park.

Police cornered Tsarnaev -- a naturalized U.S. citizen of Chechen origin -- around 7 p.m., less than an hour after police lifted a stay-indoors order for the city and its suburbs.

A resident had gone outside to smoke and noticed a tarp on the boat was flapping, a relative told NBC News. When he went to investigate, he saw what looked like a curled-up person and bloody clothes.

The man "freaked out," ran into the house and called police, the relative said.

Thermal imaging from helicopters confirmed there was a person in the boat, officials said.

Over the course of two hours, several bursts of gunfire could be heard. The police exchanged fire with Tsarnaev, threw flash-bang grenades designed to disorient him and brought a negotiator to the scene as night fell, officials said.

Just before 9 p.m., the wounded Tsarnaev was taken into custody. "He sustained significant blood loss," a law enforcement official at the scene said.

As an ambulance took the suspect to Boston Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital — where he was in serious condition — people lining the streets applauded in joy and relief.

“We are so grateful to be here right now, so grateful to able to bring justice and closure to this case,” Massachusetts State Police Col. Timothy Alben said at a briefing. “We’re exhausted, folks, but we have a victory here.”

President Barack Obama praised the outcomes but said many questions remained. Among them, he said: “Why did young men who grew up and studied here as part of our communities and our country resort to such violence?”

Authorities are also not sure of a motive or whether the suspects had help. Even as the standoff took place in Watertown, the FBI was taking three people in for questioning in New Bedford, Mass., who were believed to be former roommates of Tsarnaev.

"No one was detained. No one was arrested," a spokesman with the Massachusetts FBI office later said, once the two men and one woman questioned in connection with Tsarnaev were released.

But the president declared: “Whatever hateful agenda drove these men to such heinous acts will not, cannot, prevail. Whatever they thought they could achieve, they’ve already failed.”

Tsarnaev will be questioned by a federal team called the High Value Detainee Interrogation Group, which includes officials of the FBI, CIA, and Defense Department, an Obama administration official said.

His apprehension capped a manhunt that had the city of Boston and its suburbs on total lockdown after the execution of a college campus patrol officer, a carjacking and the death of Tsarnaev's 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan, during a 200-bullet confrontation with cops.

The overnight violence had triggered an extraordinary shutdown of transportation, schools and businesses in Boston and its suburbs, with police warning more than a million people to hunker down behind locked doors while SWAT teams fanned out and bomb squads collected seven homemade explosive devices.

The brothers' bloody last stand began about five hours after the FBI released surveillance photos of two "extremely dangerous" men suspected of planting two bombs near the finish line of Monday's Boston Marathon, killing three and wounding 176.

Read more: Who are the brothers accused of the Boston Marathon bombing?

Tips about the identity of the suspects were still pouring in when the Tsarnaev brothers fatally shot Massachusetts Institute of Technology officer Sean Collier, 26, in his vehicle at 10:20 p.m., law enforcement officials said.

The brothers then carjacked a Mercedes SUV, holding the driver captive for a half-hour while they tried to use his cash card to get money from three ATM's, a source said. At the first, they put in the wrong number; at the second, they took out $800 and at the third, they were told they had exceeded the withdrawal limit, the source said.

The carjacking victim was released unharmed at a gas station in Cambridge, sources said. He told police the brothers said they were the marathon bombers and had just killed a campus officer.

As the duo sped in his car toward Watertown, a police chase ensued and they tossed explosive devices out the window, officials said.

There was a long exchange of gunfire, according to Andrew Kitzenberg of Watertown, who took photos of the clash from his window and shared them via social media.

“They were also utilizing bombs, which sounded and looked like grenades, while engaging in the gunfight,” he told NBC News in an interview. “They also had what looked like a pressure-cooker bomb.

“I saw them light this bomb. They threw it towards the officers,” he said. “There was smoke that covered our entire street.”

A transit officer, identified as Richard H. Donahue, 33, was seriously injured during the pursuit. Authorities said he underwent surgery at Mount Auburn Hospital.

Kitzenberg said he saw the firefight end when Tamerlan Tsarnaev ran toward the officers and ultimately fell to the ground.

Tamerlan -- the man in the black hat from FBI photos released six hours earlier -- had an improvised explosive device strapped to his chest, law enforcement officials said.

Dzhokhar -- the brother who was wearing a white hat in the surveillance photos from the marathon -- got away when he drove the SUV through a line of police officers at the end of the street, Kitzenberg said.

Law enforcement sources told NBC News that blood found at the scene suggested Dzhokhar may have been wounded in the gun battle.

During the lockdown, subways and buses were shut down, Amtrak service to Boston was cut, and college campuses were closed. The Red Sox and Boston Bruins' home games were canceled.

Watertown was the epicenter of the search. Frightened residents were trapped inside as convoys of heavily armed officers and troops arrived by the hour and snipers perched on rooftops and in backyards.

When police finally gave residents the OK to venture outside, some cheered as they stepped outside, only to be swept back inside when shots rang out, and police converged on Tsarnaev's hideout.

An administration official said Tsarnaev was not read his Miranda rights and could be questioned without them for up to 48 hours under a special legal exception used in cases where public safety is at stake.

In a statement late Friday, The FBI said they interviewed Tamerlan in early 2011, following a tip from "a foreign government" that he was "a follower of radical Islam" and was preparing to leave the United States to join underground organizations.

The FBI said its interview two years ago of Tsarnaev and his family, along with checks of travel records, Internet activity and personal associations, "did not find any terrorism activity" at the time.

NBC News' Jonathan Dienst and Kasie Hunt contributed to this story.

Slideshow: Search for suspects in Boston Marathon bombings

Dominic Chavez / EPA

A tense night of police activity that left a university officer dead on campus just days after the Boston Marathon bombings and amid a hunt for two suspects caused officers to converge on a neighborhood outside Boston, where residents heard gunfire and explosions.

Launch slideshow

Related:

Who are the brothers accused of the Boston Marathon bombing? 

 Chechen insurgents deny any link to marathon bombing

What we know: Timeline of terror hunt

‘Dedicated officer’ gunned down by Boston Marathon suspects at MIT

Slideshow: Bombings at Boston Marathon

Boston bombing spurs Senate debate on tighter immigration screening 

Tweeting police chatter creates confusion over Boston suspect

Missing student's family staggered by false accusation

This story was originally published on Sat Apr 20, 2013 12:35 AM EDT

@nbcnews/Instagram

Reactions pour in on social media after Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is taken into custody following a frantic search that put Boston on lockdown. 

This story was originally published on Fri Apr 19, 2013 9:14 PM EDT

The militant group responsible for the Chechen insurgency cast doubt Friday on allegations that the two known suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing – who are of Chechen origin – carried out the attacks.
 
The official media arm of the Chechen mujahedeen, the Kavkaz Center, published a blog post that suggested the investigation into Monday’s deadly attack is part of an anti-Chechnya “PR campaign.”  

The Kavkaz Center mocked the "lightning speed" at which the two known suspects in the attack on the Boston Marathon – Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, who was at large on Friday,  and his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, who was killed in a firefight with law enforcement – were identified. The group called the investigation "completely muddled.”

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991, Chechen fighters have waged a violent struggle against the Kremlin, leading to two bloody wars and the loss of hundreds of thousands of civilian lives.

In a translation of the blog provided by Evan Kohlmann, an NBC News security analyst, the Chechens questioned the logic that the Tsarnaev brothers could be terrorists because their actions seemed so ham-handed. 

“The news that the brothers attacked police officers, carjacked a man and did an array of other things, instead of going into hiding, looks strange at the very least,” the article said.

The blog also argued that the younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was “very far from your typical ‘Islamic terrorist.’ He named career and money as his main credo. What's more, he just logged onto his Russian social networking site a few hours ago.”

Chechen insurgents have claimed responsibility for a series of dramatic kidnappings and attacks, including on a hospital in southern Russia, a Moscow theater in 2002 (where all 40 insurgents and 130 out of some 800 hostages were killed by noxious gas pumped into the theater by Russian commandos), and a school in Beslan, Russia (where over 380 people, including several hundred children died in what critics called a heavy-handed “rescue attempt” by Russian police). 

If a connection between the marathon bombing suspects and Chechen separatists was established, it would mark the first time militants from the former Soviet republic have launched a deadly attack outside Russia.

The insurgency’s blog concluded that the campaign to implicate a Chechen connection was likely orchestrated by Russia’s President Vladamir Putin ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, a Russian Black Sea resort which is located only a few hundred miles from the border with Chechnya.

Putin has long justified repression in the region as attacks on so-called “separatists” and “terrorists.”

The blog also noted that the spokesperson for Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the Chechen Republic and a former rebel, wasn’t even taking phone calls because he didn’t want to talk about the events in Boston.

In a passionate interview with reporters Friday, the brothers’ uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, also vehemently denied that there was any connection to the Chechen insurgency.

“This has nothing to do with Chechnya. Chechens are peaceful people,” he said.  

Tsarni insisted that the young men’s actions were apolitical and offered his own explanation for them. “Being losers, hatred to those who were able to settle themselves, these are the only reasons I can imagine of. Anything else, anything else to do with religion, with Islam – it’s a fraud, it’s a fake.” 

NBC News’ Jim Maceda and Petra Cahill contributed to this article.

Related links:

Suspects to carjack victim: We are the bombersWho are the brothers accused of the Boston Marathon bombing? 

What motivated bombing suspects? ‘Being losers,’ uncle says

An empty metropolis: Photos show deserted streets of Boston  

What we know: Timeline of terror hunt

‘Dedicated officer’ gunned down by Boston Marathon suspects at MIT

Slideshow: Bombings at Boston Marathon

Boston bombing spurs Senate debate on tighter immigration screening 

Photos from Bostonians locked down amid terror hunt 

Tweeting police chatter creates confusion over Boston suspect 

The Boston Marathon bombing suspects may have been motivated by shame and hatred, their uncle said Friday at a raw, impromptu press conference.

“Being losers, hatred to those who were able to settle themselves; these are the only reasons I can imagine of. Anything else, anything else to do with religion, with Islam – it’s a fraud, it’s a fake," Ruslan Tsarni said outside his home in Montomery Village, Md.

Tsarni expressed outrage over the alleged actions of his nephews Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, who was at large on Friday – spawning a massive manhunt – and his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, who was killed in a firefight with law enforcement.

“They have brought shame on the entire Chechen ethnicity,” Tsarni said of the two young men suspected of carrying out the attack that left three dead and more than 170 injured

Explaining that he had been estranged from his brother and that he had not seen him or his children in years, Tsarni insisted that his nephew's actions had nothing to do Chechnya, and he was visibly angry that the public was drawing that conclusion.

“This has nothing to do with Chechnya. Chechens are peaceful people,” he said.  

He said that if the young men had become radicalized, it would not have been by his brother, who he said “spent his life bringing bread to their table, fixing cars."

Tsarni, who was visibly shaken, said his nephews had also shamed their family.

“Of course we’re ashamed!” he responded to a reporter’s questioning. “They are children of my brother – who had little influence over them.”

When a reporter asked Tsari about his own feelings towards the United States, he passionately described his love for his adopted country.

“I say, I teach my children and that’s what I feel myself: This is the ideal micro-world in the entire world. I respect this country. I love this country. This country – which gives chance to everybody else to be treated as a human being.”

Asked what he would say to the younger of the two brothers, Dzhokhar, who was still on the loose, he urged him to turn himself in. 

“I say, 'Dzhokhar, if you are alive, turn yourself in. And ask for forgiveness from the victims, from the injured, and from those who left. Ask for forgiveness from these people.'”

Related links:

Suspects to carjack victim: We are the bombers 

Who are the brothers accused of the Boston Marathon bombing? 

An empty metropolis: Photos show deserted streets of Boston  

What we know: Timeline of terror hunt

‘Dedicated officer’ gunned down by Boston Marathon suspects at MIT

Slideshow: Bombings at Boston Marathon

Boston bombing spurs Senate debate on tighter immigration screening 

Photos from Bostonians locked down amid terror hunt 

Tweeting police chatter creates confusion over Boston suspect 

Jason Reed / Reuters

Senator Chuck Schumer, part of the U.S. Senate's "Gang on Eight", speaks during a news briefing on Capitol Hill, April 18, 2013.

The Boston Marathon bombing and subsequent manhunt for suspects has already become part of the debate over immigration reform in Washington, with one high ranking Republican questioning the screening process that allows immigrants into the United States.

The Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to hear testimony from Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano on the bipartisan immigration overhaul introduced by a group of eight senators, but she had to postpone due to ongoing developments in the search.

A ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said at the outset of the committee’s hearing, “Given the events of this week, it’s important for us to understand the gaps and loopholes in our immigration system. While we don’t yet know the immigration status of the people who have terrorized the communities in Massachusetts, when we find out it will help shed light on the weaknesses of our system.” 

Grassley asked, “How can individuals evade authorities and plan such attacks on our soil? How can we beef up security checks on people who wish to enter the United States? How do we ensure that people who wish to do us harm are not eligible for benefits under the immigration laws, including this new bill before us?”

But a few minutes later, Sen. Charles Schumer, D- N.Y. the chief sponsor of the bipartisan immigration overhaul, in an apparent response to Grassley, said one shouldn’t jump to conclusions about the events in Boston “or try to conflate those events with this legislation. In general, we’re a safer country when law enforcement knows who is here – has their fingerprints, photos, et cetera – has conducted background checks and no longer needs to look at needles in haystacks. In addition, both the refugee program and the asylum program have been significantly strengthened in the past five years such that we are much more careful about screening people and determining who should and should not be coming into the country. If there are any changes our homeland security experts tell us need to be made (in his bill), I’m committed to making them….”

In a statement Friday, Frank Sharry, head of America’s Voice Education Fund and a veteran campaigner for an immigration overhaul which would allow a path to legal residence for some of those in the country illegally, said, "It’s premature to jump to final conclusions about the attackers. And it’s shameful that some on the far right are politicizing and demagoguing this issue.” Sharry said some -- whom he did not identify -- are "exploiting this tragedy in hopes of derailing immigration reform."

The Senate will likely debate the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” immigration overhaul next month, but Grassley stressed that the bill ought to be fully debated in committee and open to amendments on the Senate floor.

Referring to the 1986 Simpson-Mazzoli immigration overhaul which was supposed to end illegal immigration and prevent any future amnesty, Grassley said, “We screwed up – and we can’t afford to screw up again.”

The committee was hearing Friday from two witnesses, conservative attorney Peter Kirsanow – who indicated his opposition to the bipartisan bill because he said it would lower wages for U.S. low-skill workers -- and former director of Congressional Budget Office Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who supported the bill.

Related links:

Suspects to carjack victim: We are the bombers 

Who are the brothers accused of the Boston Marathon bombing? 

An empty metropolis: Photos show deserted streets of Boston  

What we know: Timeline of terror hunt

‘Dedicated officer’ gunned down by Boston Marathon suspects at MIT

Slideshow: Bombings at Boston Marathon

Boston bombing spurs Senate debate on tighter immigration screening 

Photos from Bostonians locked down amid terror hunt 

Tweeting police chatter creates confusion over Boston suspect

This story was originally published on Fri Apr 19, 2013 11:47 AM EDT

FBI.gov

The FBI released this image of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing case early on Friday.

The FBI released new photos of two "armed and extremely dangerous" suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing early Friday.

The pair — who were armed with explosives and guns — battled authorities in a Boston suburb until cops took one of the men into custody, and the other fled, sources said. Officials later said the the suspect taken into custody died.

The suspect seen wearing the white baseball cap in the photos was still on the run, according to officials.

Earlier, Boston FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard DesLauriers asked for tips, adding: "Somebody out there knows these individuals as friends, neighbors, co-workers or family members,"

"Though it may be difficult, the nation is counting on those with information to come forward and provide it to us.

"We consider them to be armed and extremely dangerous," DesLauriers added. "No one should approach them...If you see these men, contact law enforcement."

The images showed two men in baseball caps and dark jackets who were seen walking together through the crowd at Monday's iconic race. New headshots were released by the FBI at 2 a.m. ET on Friday.

Law enforcement sources tell NBC News that unreleased portions of the surveillance video show the suspect in the white hat working his way out of the crowd, then raising his arm to apparently lift the backpack off his shoulder, but the view is obstructed by others. He sets the backpack down, working his way out of the crowd, then pausing briefly just before the first bomb explodes. 

He then calmly begins to work his way away from the second device, sources said. Seconds later, the second bomb explodes, and a terrible scene of carnage is apparent.

Seconds after that explosion, a photograph now in hands of the FBI appears to show the suspect in the white hat moving away amid the smoke rising midway down the block behind him.

Two sources said they are looking for repeat names amid the flood of calls to the investigators’ tip line to give them leads on who the suspects are.

FBI.gov

This image, which was released by the FBI early Friday, shows two Boston Marathon bombing suspects together.

The man in the dark cap with a black backpack is being called Suspect No. 1. The other man, Suspect No. 2, is wearing a white cap backward and carrying a lighter-colored backpack.

The public was asked to call a hotline, 1-800-CALL-FBI, with tips or visit the bureau's website, bostonmarathontips.fbi.gov.

"No bit of information, no matter how small or seemingly inconsequential, is too small for us to see," DesLauriers said. "Each piece moves us forward toward justice."

Following the release of the photos, people had already started calling in names.

Investigators zeroed in on one of the men within the last day or so, he said. By examining photos and videos of the marathon crowd, they were able to identify a second suspect.

FBI

These are among the photos of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing released by the FBI.

"They appear to be associated," he said.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick echoed the FBI's call for the public to help. "Pass along to law enforcement any information about the suspects that you may have," he said.

The FBI released no other information about the probe, including the motive for the bombing, which killed three people, including an 8-year-old boy, and wounded 176.

Investigators are casting a wide net for clues. The FBI was canvassing hobby stores in the Boston area to determine whether electrical components in the bombs were bought there, NBC News learned.

Forensic work from the blast zone has helped authorities identify major components of the bombs.

They were housed in metal containers — at least one an everyday kitchen pressure cooker — and studded with metal, including fine nails or brads, to make the devices more lethal. A battery pack typically used on toy cars and a circuit board were also recovered.

FBI

The FBI is looking for these two men, identified as suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing.

But the videos are the biggest break in the case yet. They were unveiled hours after President Obama attended an interfaith prayer service to reassure both the injured and the city.

“You will run again,” he declared at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, less than a mile from the finish line. “Your resolve is the greatest rebuke to whoever committed this heinous act.”

As of Thursday morning, 56 patients were still being treated in hospitals. That was down from 65 on Wednesday.

“In general, people are getting better, and we are happy with their progress,” Dr. Peter Burke, chief of trauma at Boston Medical Center, told reporters early Thursday.

The three people killed in the attack were Lingzi Lu, a Boston University graduate student; 8-year-old Martin Richard of Boston; and 29-year-old Krystle Campbell of Medford, a Boston suburb.

A trauma surgeon said that doctors have pulled fragments as large as 2 inches, including pieces of wood, concrete and plastic, from the bodies of the injured, in addition to metal shrapnel from the bombs.

NBC News’ John Bailey, Richard Esposito and Michael Isikoff contributed to this report.

Related:

• Bombing victims try to track down heroes who saved them
• Who is the FBI’s agent in charge of Boston marathon case?
• Anatomy of a bombing: Photos show device components
• Full coverage of Boston Marathon bombings from NBC News

This story was originally published on Tue Apr 16, 2013 10:50 PM EDT

Family photo via Facebook

JP and Paul Norden each lost a leg in Monday's bombings at the Boston Marathon.

Two brothers who went to the Boston Marathon to cheer on a friend each lost a leg in Monday’s bombing, their family said, asking the public for prayers.

Paul Norden, 31, and his brother, J.P., 33, were being treated at separate hospitals on Tuesday, their worried relatives rallying around them.

“J.P. is alert, knows what’s going on,” their mother, Liz Norden of Wakefield, Mass., told NBC News via text message from the hospital.

“[He] knows he lost his leg. He is in a great deal of pain,” she said, adding that he had a loud, incessant ringing in his ears from the blast.

The emotional wounds were just as bad, she said.

“He is a mess. He is very concerned for his brother Paul…burst into tears when he found out Paul lost his leg.”

J.P. had already undergone surgery, while Paul was back in the operating room on Tuesday afternoon.

“All I ask is to please, please pray for all of them,” the mother said.

Norden said Paul emerged from surgery late Tuesday afternoon. His mother said he is not able to talk yet but he squeezed her hand and tried to get up when she told him J.P. had survived.

"This is just overwhelming," she said.

On Monday, Liz Norden told the Boston Globe she was unloading groceries when she got a call on her cell phone from Paul, who was in an ambulance.

"Ma, I'm hurt real bad," he told her.

She soon learned the her elder son, who had been standing next to him, had also lost a limb.

“I am just so heartbroken,” she told NBC News as she shuttled between Beth Israel Deaconess and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Paul’s girlfriend was being treated for burns at a third hospital.

The brothers, both roofers who had recently been laid off, were at the marathon to support their friend, firefighter Mike Jefferson, who escaped injury.

“I was a quarter-mile away from the finish line,” Jefferson told the Globe.

Three people were killed in Monday's twin bombings, which also injured at least 176 people. Authorities have not yet named a suspect in the attack.

Lee-Ann and Nick Yanni were standing about 10 feet from the finish line cheering on friends when the bombs went off. Shrapnel ripped through Lee-Ann's shin, causing her to need emergency surgery for an open fibular fracture; Nick sustained a pierced ear drum, NBC's Kerry Sanders reported.

Josh Reynolds / AP

Nicholas Yanni, 32, of Boston, speaks to reporters at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. He and his wife, Lee Ann Yanni, 31, were injured in the Boston Marathon bombing.

"It sounded like somebody had taken a cannon or some kind of bomb or something was right behind me," Lee-Ann told TODAY from her hospital bed.  "You could smell gunpowder and probably flesh at that point."

Lee-Ann was waiting for a skin graft Tuesday morning.

"People were on the ground. A lot of broken limbs – I think I saw a guy with no limbs at all," Nick told TODAY. 

Among those killed was 8-year-old Martin Richard of Dorchester, Mass., who was watching the race with his family, NBC affiliate WHDH reported. Martin's 6-year-old sister lost her leg in the blast; his mother suffered a serious brain injury and had surgery late Monday night, WHDH said.

"The kids were all up on the barrier," said Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., who told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that he spoke to Martin's father, William, after the bombings. "They had their feet up on the pegs, trying to get a higher view. ... So they were all focused forward and the blast came from the back and the side."

The family also has a son in the fifth grade who was not injured, according to WHDH. 

William Martin, the father, is a runner but was not running in yesterday's marathon and was not injured, Lynch told MSNBC. The family was there to support friends who were in the race.

Slideshow: Boston Marathon explosions

Charles Krupa / AP

See images from the scene of the explosions.

Launch slideshow

Related:

Witness who ran toward marathon bomb 'saw bodies flying'

Amid the chaos and carnage in Boston, heroes emerge

'You're not in it alone': Good Samaritans take in marathoners

Timeline of a tragedy: What happened when

Marathoner: 'I just have to get over the finish line'

This story was originally published on Tue Apr 16, 2013 7:25 PM EDT